Every so often students will either tell me after class, email or text to say how they enjoyed my class. It’s always nice to hear. The other day a student texted me that “So & So” didn’t think class was hard, but she herself loved it. I replied saying, “That’s too bad. I’m sorry to have disappointed So & So. I hope the philosophical lesson wasn’t too hard for So & So. I’m glad you liked it though.” (Yes, I was being sarcastic.)
I mulled on that freaking text for days. I taught that same sequence to all my other classes, where the feedback was “that was great”, “that was challenging”, “that was HARD.” In fact, my husband took my class last night and commented afterwards, “that was brilliantly sequenced.” I laughed because I thought he was brown nosing the instructor, but he backed up his response saying how he appreciated how I weaved my theme into a carefully, thought out class. Thanks, Babe. Glad you noticed. That’s the SAME class So & So didn’t think was hard!
So, since I was attached to the feedback I received the other day (hey, I’m only human), I went back to read the text again. “So and So didn’t think class was hard. So & So SKIPPED ALL THE HARD POSES. I loved it!” Well, there it was!!! It wasn’t HARD because he SKIPPED poses! (insert rolled eyes & a shaking head).
This diatribe isn’t trying to solicit praise. It’s more about this question….”WHY DOES YOGA HAVE TO BE HARD?” What makes yoga hard anyway? Does it have to be hot? Does it have to move fast? Do you have to do tons of chaturangas? Do you have to have crazy loud music and a military-style practice?
WHAT MAKES YOGA HARD?…..Being present IN the practice makes yoga hard. So & So probably didn’t find it hard because he wasn’t quite present in the practice. Yes, it’s perfectly fine to skip postures. That’s not the point. Even if you skip something because it doesn’t feel right or you’re not quite at that level, you should still be in the moment.
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 1.14 states: “The practice is firmly grounded when it is persistently done for a long time, without interruption, and WITH EARNEST, REVERENTIAL ATTENTION & DEVOTION.” In other words, practice with commitment and with complete awareness and presence.
What makes yoga challenging or hard is when you’re actually IN the moment. It’s not about standing on your hands or twisting into a pretzel or pushing yourself beyond your limits. It’s about FEELING THE FEELS—the good ones and the bad ones, the ones you do, the ones you skip.
Let me ask you this…What makes LIFE hard? Tons of stuff makes Life hard. But we know when its hard because we’re in it and PRESENT. If we were living life lackadaisically, all the hard crap would just glaze over us without even a thought or feeling.
We are all sometimes challenged by the Life that’s before us all, sometimes even feeling overwhelmed at its difficulty. Sure (and ironically), we sometimes seek a challenge in our practice too, but we should also seek its ease. As the practice of yoga teaches us, being forceful with our bodies, or in Life, has proven to be unhelpful on our mats or off our mats. We don’t need to push our bodies hard in order to be well or fulfilled. And the efforts we make to meet the challenges don’t need to be a struggle.
Feel the ease & namaste, friends.